In the next 12 months, the Morobe Works Department expects to halve the time it takes to respond to weather related road damage that occurs regularly in the province.
Following a 20 year demise of the Plant and Transport Division, the government has made efforts to resurrect what used to be a key arm of government responsible for road construction.
The initial stage of the project is being funded by the Japanese Government.
This now reduces the government’s dependence on sometimes overpriced contractors.
For 20 years successive Works Managers saw the demise of what used to be the driving force behind Papua New Guinea’s road construction and maintenance programs.
The Plant and Transport Division more popularly known in the 70’s and 80’s by the initials, PTB, was responsible for building and maintaining roads.
The trade mark yellow vehicle, almost always, the first on the scene on the landslides and the other road emergencies.
Now those provincial divisions are being revived in a big way.
These men are part of a group who will make up the core construction and maintenance teams, in four pilot provinces.
They’re undergoing training by a Japanese Volunteer on Vehicles and Machinery bought with Japanese Aid money.
This is the first step government’s taking to revive the Plant and Transport Divisions.
It follows growing concerns over the Government’s Dependence on contractors.
For the Morobe Province, where large numbers of people depend on road, any serious road damage is potentially a matter of life and death and for Morobe’s Works Manager, the revival of the maintenance construction of the Department now gives him the ability to respond to emergencies in less time.
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